Limits
by AxJfan
Summary: Perhaps there are limits for a reason. Salvation is cruel at best. Needs are discarded. Justice is served. "Hee-hee-hee! It's surprising how powerful the death of a star can be, eh Placido?" Rating may change for character death.
1. Perhaps

**PLEASE READ!**

******PLEASE READ!**

Hello everyone! I haven't died!

I've been away somewhere amazing and will be returning shortly, so unfortunetly for you all, updates will not exist for a while.

On the bright side, I've written this entire 5-chapter story on my plane ride, so this will be finished shortly.

It's another experiment, four pieces that are connected to each other, but their connection is unknown until the end.

I have changed one thing in the series to create this fic, and you'll see it in this chapter.

**NO POVs WILL BE STATED.**

I'm working on characterization, so just bear with me while I play with my story.

As always, thank you for reading beloved readers!

~AxJfan

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****Limits**

**Chapter 1: Perhaps**

**Third Person POV**

It started with a body on the floor.

Withered with the heavy weight of humanity, clothed within a coffin of newly shed dust and grime, it stirred, sending ripples in its wake, the rustling of its shredded clothing the only noise in its abyss—only that, and sirens. Its deeps eyes opened to a sky without sunlight, to a thick brown ozone churning with the promise of chaos. It blinked.

The body rose with the speed of the near dead, bruised, battered, and confused by more than just the impact of a crash. Its head turned from side to side slowly, coming to its senses from deep within. Its torso left an imprint on the ground. Beyond that it saw the D-Wheel upended between the only lively streets; it saw the scattered glass against the concrete, glittering like the twisted illusion of salvation.

And it saw the body on the floor.

Looking across at him, it blankly registered the cracked helm, the still mouth that had promised death, the pool of blood forming beneath his chest. And beyond that, in the reflected light of salvation, lay a broken metal rod.

It knew what it must do.

The first drop of rain fell.

And landed on the cheek of yet another making his way through the twisting allies like a man gone mad, calling a name that was hollow, for a soul that had long since vanished.

**First Person POV**

I paid no heed to the turmoil above, uncaring if the moisture on my cheek was heaven-sent or mortal. Decimated, gray, abandoned buildings rushed past, slamming in and out of focus as ghosts of lost owners gazed down into the streets, sad and lonely. With little hope, my eyes strayed into the hollow spaces, seeking the other two I had left behind in this wild pursuit.

The same sharp pain of dread that told me I wouldn't find them screamed that I had to _find_ him, had to _stop_ him, and had to somehow _save_ the man who had saved me. Something akin to fate pushed me forward, driving my legs to speeds they had not yet achieved. I could feel it, fell him as strongly as I felt the black heart pummeling in my ribcage.

He was near, somewhere around the corner, somewhere in the ever approaching future, somewhere bound and caged by the powerful rage sweeping through him, somewhere dwarfed by the promise of rain and wind and torment, by the towering oppression of grime and disparity, and by the weight of a deteriorating sanity.

I whirled around a corner, pushing past garage and newspapers whose headlines smirked, 'Catastrophe.'

_No, God, please no,_ I begged of a being I didn't believe in, twisting down my own soiled path, my birthright, the path that I had left him to stumble down alone, the path that would certainly lead to Hell. Haunted and guided by the terrible debt of a father who stole lives, I ran in his footsteps, praying for a different end to this never-ending cycle.

_Does this make me insane?_

If so, then perhaps it didn't matter. Perhaps we were all insane in this God-Forsaken Hell, perhaps there was no light guiding our way, perhaps there was no salvation. _Please... please God..._

His life was too precious, he was the only person I had ever leaned on, he had too pure a heart to fall now!

_Why did I ever abandon him? Why did I forsake him? Why did I push him away? Why couldn't I see that behind his strong front he needed us? Why couldn't I see that pain, that uncertainty? _

We were supposed to be nakama, brothers in spirit and heart, bound by love and drive, supporting and defending one another until death overcame us. Perhaps he was right—perhaps I had failed him. Perhaps we all had.

An empty bottle shattered below my feet, slicing into my soles with piercing precision. Ignoring the punishment I deserved, I pressed forward, and the glass dug in deeper, painting my footsteps red. I barely noticed. He was close—so close, this I knew from my heart to my gut.

Though darkness cloaked the walls around me and the tear of or for mortality still lingered on my face, light still shone through. I still found him. Blinded, I hobbled to a stop, the sole witness to the one remaining streak of sunlight sparkling across the surface of a broken mirror. It threw the alley into flecks of eerie light, shining off of windows, metal, garbage, and flashing across the surface of...

The weapon in his hands. Bathed in shades of gray fermenting quickly to black, wielding a weapon that would end his life, hovering over a body already fallen...

His name exploded off my lips. I dove. Caught him in my arms. We fell together, twisting to the ground, but he had always been stronger than me, quicker...

It began to rain.

**Third Person POV**

Its eyes opened to the rain, to its name, to its life no longer in the presence of danger, to itself. Shaking with mirth and irony, he stared down his fallen comrade, soaked in the shrapnel of metal gouged in the man's side, and threw his head back. No longer shaking, his chest heaved with laborious laughter, gasped with delirious cackles that echoed across the deserted streets, crashed into one another, and swamped the city in a symphony of demonic insanity. The two remaining were swallowed by the sound, swept away into the night, their please of his name left unheard.

The storm arrived.

It ended with a body on the floor.

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**So did this experiment work out? Likes? Dislikes?**

**Thanks for reading and I appreciate any feedback,**

**~AxJfan**


	2. Salvation

**NO POVs WILL BE STATED.**

I'm working on characterization, so just bear with me while I play with my story.

As always, thank you for reading beloved readers!

~AxJfan

**Disclaimer: **I do not own 5ds, but I do own my twisted imagination and sick, ironic sense of humor. Isn't it grand?

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**Interlude**

**First Person POV**

In the end, there was no light.

I died in the last haven of the sun, and now where there should have been millions of galaxies unfolding at my fingertips, stars and nebulas and the deepest desires of my soul—there were only storms. No warm smiles, welcoming hands, sparkling eyes, snarling teeth, curved claws, or waves of fire greeted or led me to eternal rest or damnation. No Godly voice offered advice or Satanic cackle taunted victory.

The only sounds were the crashes of thunder and the sobs of rain. Like a hideous, polluted whirlpool, clouds and dust swirled around me, concealing the edges of buildings and streets, alike, leaving the sole heir of chaos to reign free beside my lost soul. And in the eye of it all, he laughed, cackled with the storm, the din masking his tears.

Coated in my blood, cleansed by the downpour, his face upturned, he held his arms outwards, embracing all that was sick and cruel in the world, sheltering the worst of it deep within his heart.

My lips twitched into a pained smile at the sight of him, shattered like the mirror and bodies beside him where he had once stood so tall beyond the rest of us. Even now in this psychotic, self-loathing fit of chained freedom, with the rain on his face and his features alight, he was something different, he was still the leader that had saved us.

I whispered his name, and it was left unheard, swallowed by his hurricane.

But it seemed that God had heard me. He was alive, my comrade, my brother, my precious person, and I had found him—found him, and tried to save him. Even if I had failed him once and for all in that, at least I could overlook him and the other two I had left behind. Maybe he could wake up on his own. Maybe it would not be for nothing.

But the rain kept washing him clean, leaving the blood on his cheeks to run down the drains, leaving him weeping in laughter. I watched and wept myself four our twisted, sick salvation, watched and cursed the name that had brought it upon us.

It was all I could do.

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**Chapter 2:**

**Salvation**

**Third Person POV**

"It will not be for nothing."

A head twisted upwards, snarling like a wounded beast, eyes narrowed and bright. He looked down at the man kneeling before him, twisting the wrench in his hands slowly between his fingers before dropping it to the floor, where it came to a rest amid piles of gears. The wind kicked at his long white robe and sent it billowing around his feet, gray in the torrents of rain and salty ocean gusts.

White lightning flashed, illuminating the shadows of three still figures bearing the wicked surges together. Two stood across from one bent at the knees as if in prayer, and the later quickly rose to his full height, glaring at the other two.

Something about them was familiar, but he couldn't quite place it.

"This is what you were created to do. God has Chosen us three, and we must fulfill his will."

The addressed' gaze sharpened into reflexive confusion, but his shoulders and fists did not relax. Walls of dirt and discord crash between them, soiling their skin and robes before being pelted away by the downpour, a viscous cycle that relished his silence.

Finally, he could bear it no more, "God's will?"

The few remaining windows rattled under the threat of the gales, trembling in fear and anticipation. If there had been any humans left outside in this newly created hell, any sane souls for that matter, they certainly would have sought shelter.

Only three remained.

"Yes. There is something terrible that happens in the future, and the God of Destiny has willed us to gather three and prevent it. In order to do that, we must approach His Throne, and the only way to do so is through completing the Circuit."

That word—that was familiar. He had heard it many times before; he knew it down to his trembling core. But these two didn't need to know it yet. "The Circuit?"

Three sharp cackles accompanied the end of that question, and he whirled at the familiar taunt, eyes narrowed. "You really don't know anything, do you?"

Thunder rolled above them as the smallest snickered, rolling a metal plate between his hands in obvious glee. He kicked at a piece of loose shrapnel on the ground and repeated his joy, louder this time, "To think you screwed up so badly that _we_ have to bail you out! You really should be our lowest member!"

Thunder's partner finally made its appearance, crashing down beside them, drawn by the discarded metal and cracked headlights of a defeated enemy. Fire exploded onto the slick of spilled oil beside them, charring the remains of a vaguely familiar face sprawled on the floor. Hateful recognition flickered through his dark eyes and stance at the sight, and he turned back towards the others, knowing on some level that he had at least vanquished one enemy tonight.

"I did what I had to. I couldn't wait any longer."

"_Hee-hee-hee! _Is that what you think now?" the other replied, his young green eyes alight in the flames. The glare of the obvious leader silenced him, and he sulked with a sneer, kicking at the tools granted mercy by the storm. The rebuilt and remade's eyes followed his movements, searing to find their significance, _detesting_ that the clouds in his mind prevented him from finding it.

Flooded and burning, the fire spat between them.

Seeing this, the leader continued, "You have been gifted by God to save the future—to save mankind. Their evolution"—the individual's fists trembled, he knew of the _poison _of that, knew it personally and visciously—"is leading towards the destruction of the world."

His rage relaxed the others, and the younger commented with his usual cryptic sort of flair, "I guess you're pretty much the same after all."

He laughed. Thunder crashed. Lighting screamed.

Using the pause to his advantage, the leader frowned, observing the young man before him, awed by the same hate and force resonating from deep within, even if he lacked the exact memories to back them. Running his gaze up and down the convulsing man before him, he accepted the wise-crack of his annoying partner, agreeing that indeed, he was the same. Eyes betraying the calm smirk behind his face plate, he turned his sharp gray eyes towards the warring heavens, speaking softly, "I see you understand that much."

Ignoring the confused glance the other two shot upwards, the eldest continued, "God has given us a mission, and that is to find Him. As I said before, we must complete the Circuit to do that. And it must be done around this city." Speaking with such cool serenity, it was easy to recapture the other's attention, and the words themselves were smoother still, slipping easily through the cracks in his armor, caressing the tender, vulnerable parts of his being still in need of repair.

His eyes flickered wider before glancing before him, past the dead city street, into the cataclysmic waves swallowing the coastlines. In his chest, what still remained of his heart shuddered in thunder-struck anticipation, reacting to those miraculous, healing words, "The Daedalus Bridge."

"_Hee-hee-hee!_ He's finally getting it!" Where the other found it all inspiring and frozen in stone, this one saw it all as one huge cosmic joke, enough to easily boil the blood of the two withstanding the explanation together. The three exchanged glares, already establishing ties between them, ties that they would all too eagerly shed once their duties were complete. The man continued, "By completing the Circuit, this city has to be destroyed."

His breath caught. His hands shook. The fire burned amidst the downpour.

The largest noticed and pressed on, enticing, "Do you see? Do you understand what you have been willed to do? Can you wield that power—the gift that will allow us to understand God's will?"

The words served as a heavy restart, a jolt that his foggy mind need, a flip of the switch that had all of his memories and actions rolling out before him, making connections and conclusions that had eluded him moments before. Any lesser man—any human for that matter—would be floored, would have to sit down, lose consciousness, or lose a part of themselves that would never come back. But he had started with nothing to lose, and thus he gained something from all this, something that had been eluding him from the moment he opened his eyes to this new, gray world: Understanding.

A single, bitter noise escaped him, "I see, I see his will."

The elder nodded, his long beard leaving huge watermarks down his cloak. His one visible eye smoldered with a bizarre kind of contentedness, and he said, "I am José, the leader of the Three Emperors of Yliaster. Luciano is next. Do you know yourself now?"

Wind shattered a window to their right, the only sound that passed between them as the new rights were played out. Luciano passed the plate in his hand over to the self appointed leader with a pouting sneer, overlooking the casual destruction around him. With these actions, he knew everything and nothing. He saw what he must do.

"I do."

"And do you accept this?"

There was no hesitation, "Yes."

With a steady grip, he held out the shard between them, the rain tracing the mark of infinity, of God, washing it clean of grime and muck. It shone like precious silver in the weak light of the flames. "Then take your throne. Take it, and repent your hasty actions."

Their hands clasped over the metal.

As José beckoned him back towards shelter, offering him the lost sword to open a portal, Luciano approached the sizzling embers and ash, nudging the scalding remains with his blacked foot. He took in the charred remains of the other that had somehow cheated his way into God's will, eyes sharp and well practiced. Very little remained to look at, none of it al all recognizable. His perpetual amusement grew into mirth. "Then they'll still cling onto Yusei's _hope_."

His mirth grew into laughter. "It's surprising how powerful the death of a star can be, eh Placido?"

No one answered, and he departed with his companions, out of the rain, and into the shelter of their out-of-place throne room, where they could watch and plot and complete the Circuit that had been protected tonight, where they could strengthen themselves now that the enemy was certainly dead.

The fire burned out behind them.

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**So did this experiment work out? Likes? Dislikes?**

**On an unrelated note, I love Luciano, his laugh makes me laugh!**

**Thanks for reading and I appreciate any feedback,**

**~AxJfan**


	3. Needs

**NO POVs WILL BE STATED.**

**Second to last chapter has been updated! (not including the epilogue)**

I'm working on characterization, so just bear with me while I play with my story.

As always, thank you for reading beloved readers!

~AxJfan

**Disclaimer: **I do not own 5ds, but I do own my twisted imagination and sick, ironic sense of humor. Isn't it grand?

**

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**Chapter 3:**

**Needs**

**First Person POV**

The Night was coming.

"She's going to _kill_ you, Yusei!"

If I said that I had not half-expected the voice of Security's second-in-command to mock me from my D-Wheel, it would have been a lie. Regardless, the sight of his peculiar face grinning up at me from my duel screen was not pleasant, and I easily ignored it, turning my back to the machine and outwards, towards the raging ocean.

He cackled his unusually high-pitched laugh at my cool reaction, continuing, "Why do you think she told you to come alone to this place?"

Whatever he may think, I did await retribution at the peak of the unfinished bridge, standing astride my D-Wheel, gazing off into the setting sun, barely visible beyond the heavy gray overcast. While the world around me swirled in desperate motion; clouds churning, waves breaking, earth swaying; I was still, constant, unwavering, holding tightly to the belief in bonds, one of the few worldly possession I had left.

I ran my hand over the note she had gone through a ridiculous amount of trouble to slip me when we both knew all she had to do was walk out of the shadows to meet.

"Are you intending to martyr yourself again? To make up for your friends?" His face was not curious or concerned, but hopelessly amused by my predicament. The note crumpled in my hand, smearing the ink of her carefully crafted handwriting.

Delighted, his eyes widened, "I guess you do have nerves to hit after all!"

A few slow exhales had my hands under control, and I forced my voice to remain cool and distant, "I won the duel. I don't have to worry about them, do I?"

Of course I did. I would always worry about them, always wonder what it would have been like; their terror, their pain, their sense of betrayal, would always carry around this... this... I resisted the urge to grab my chest and squeeze until I bled, until my wildly hammering heart was still and the pain flowed out of it. Until I was strong enough to carry on this will and responsibility.

This... this... weakness.

"You tell me." There was something different in the high voice now, something doubtful and sinister below the surface. The twilight air was rich and cool against my skin, although it did nothing to whether the heat of hatred boiling around me. So I watched the sun dip down to kiss the sea, veiled by the overcast, and tried to pretend that the threat didn't shake me.

He took my silence as a good enough answer. "Well, that's good to know"—he was laughing again, always laughing, the nasty little—"it is your fault after all."

I stopped, plummeting with the temperature as the sun's last flames began to die out. Although I refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing my face, I could do nothing to stop myself from shaking, from letting those words impact me where they would have grazed off of any other. Of course it was my fault. Of course I knew and accepted that. Of course he would choose to taunt me this way. Of course I should have been prepared for this blow.

But I wasn't. I never was. And I proved it to him with the bitterness coloring my words, "What do you want?"

He shrugged before cackling again, waving his hands around in dizzying spirals, "Just checking up on you. Making sure you haven't gone crazy like that girl. The end of a world is a big deal after all! It's our job to watch over the Signers, isn't it Yusei?"

He exploded with heady laughter, catching the murderous expression in my eyes before I could turn away.

_Hee-hee-hee! Hee-hee-hee! Hee-hee-HEE!_

It didn't take me long to realize I truly hated him, and it didn't take me any longer to decide I didn't care. It wasn't just that he worked for the head of Security that had already put me through hell, no; it was the fact that he generally _enjoyed_ watching people suffer.

_People like him should just—_

The thought died with the last snarls of anger within me, snuffed out by an incredible amount of self control. Me of all people did not have the right to finish such thoughts. While I may not enjoy it; I certainly have caused enough suffering in my lifetime, bearing my father's curse.

He knew how to hurt me now, knew it, and seized that rusty old knife. Then twisted. "Of course, this is _such_ a shame. They were so _loyal_ to you and _you_ just threw that away. Then of course, she'll kill you tonight, and then what'll be left of them? It'll all be for nothing. To think, all your friends die because you were so set on chasing—"

I wasn't aware that I had severed the connection for several minutes, the ghost of what he might have said hanging thickly around my head, screaming in the same agony that blistered inside my chest. When I did realize my fist was still trembling against my D-Wheel I forced myself to move away from it, to take my head in my hands in a very rare sign of vulnerability.

_Was it really like that? Had I really, truly betrayed them...?_

_Inhale, exhale..._

"He's right you know. That tournament proved it."

Her voice washed over me, icier than the ocean pounding below me could ever be. Startled, I whipped my hands down to my sides and turned, catching her in the last few rays of sunlight. Her rigid posture, crouched low over her duel disk, spoke volumes, and I knew that she still didn't understand. I wasn't particularly sure I did after all, or if I even stood a chance of succeeding in what I came here to do.

I've proven time and time again that I couldn't save anyone. And I had already failed her once.

"Chasing after phantoms"—her eyes pierced my already weakened armor, drawing deep crimson blood—"will always end in disaster."

We watched each other for a moment, pretending that it was the bridge trembling and not the two of us. The silence between us mounted, becoming something real and alive, a hideous beast that would likely swallow the two of us whole should we not tame it. We faced it instead. "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!"

She threw her words at me with all the force she had, the mask she wore so tightly over her features plummeting to the ground, where it shattered on impact, irretrievable. Obviously she meant to hurt me, to continue the work of my unwanted visitor, to twist that knife deeper still. Yet somehow, the sight of her wounds against my own proved to soothe me, to keep me steady.

Perhaps it was as simple as this: So long as she needed me, I would be there.

The unbidden thought nearly made me laugh.

"IT'S ALL YOU FAULT HE'S DEAD! HE WAS THE LAST PERSON I HAD LEFT! YOU STOLE HIM! GIVE HIM BACK! P-PLEASE! GIVE HIM BACK TO ME!" her demands were nearly childish and impossible at best, but the threat deep within her eyes remained. Although she had been terrifying, powerful, and beautiful behind that mask, the fact still remained that she was hiding. Now that she was here before me, open and wild, I found her even more so.

Jagged, fragile, and broken, thick streams of tears cascaded down her cheeks, blotching her face, reddening her eyes an nose, revealing the crushed soul within, glimmering like shattered glass in the sunlight. But she was still the fierce woman I had dueled against, an opponent I would have to face in this new war. My arm ached with the chill of loss, echoing my wish that we were something more.

"IF I HADN'T BEEN CHASING AFTER YOU, H-HE'D STILL BE ALIVE!"

Realization made me turn towards her, towards the city on fire, towards the destruction that she had somehow escaped from to find me, to give me a little note to get me alone, to meet me here when the last flames were dipping below the horizon...

_So that's how you... why you..._

Something in my eyes must have set her alight, for she was suddenly unable to speak, spluttering and chocking on her own incorrectly targeted hatred and rage, jabbing outwards at me without the strength to form words. Still, I listened patiently to her shrieking heart, allowing her anger to wash over me, catching it even.

Regrettably, as I knew it would, this only made her hate me more.

"And you!" her voice plummeted dangerously, harsh as it scraped past the dam in her throat. "You're with the enemy _Yusei!"_—she spat my name out as if it was acid on her tongue—"OUR ENEMY!"

Water filled her mouth from her eyes, and she drew a shaky breath, shuddering from within to without, her arms suddenly wrapped tightly around her chest as if she were viciously cold. A sob wracked through her, finally free from wherever she had tethered it. More followed, and I realized that if I was to speak at all, now would be the time.

"Did he say that this mark made us enemies?" I whispered to her as softly as I could, tapping it with one free finger. Her breath seized in her throat once more, suffocating any immediate denials to the implications. Fury was still obvious in her deep-set scowl, but confusion played across those wounded eyes.

I risked a step forward, holding my hand out between us. "We don't have to be enemies. I don't want that."

I had her attention now, even if it was bitter and spiteful, simply waiting for me to say my piece so she could pick it apart and throw it back at me, justify what she had obviously come to do. I softened and she bristled, but her eyes never left my hand. "We've been lied to and deceived, and I don't understand all of what's going to happen. As one, it's out of my hands."

Her mouth snapped open, but I continued over her, already hearing the searing remark about the conversation she had heard. "I don't trust Yliaster's intention in Security, but you know that we can't gain victory alone."

Her fists trembled against her sides, instilled with longing, to strike or join me was uncertain. On some level, we both knew what she had come here to do as clearly as my visitor, what she would eventually carry out regardless of what choice was made here tonight. I knew the from the first moment we passed each other, from the hard forward gazes in each of our eyes, that this was how it had to be.

Our fate was simple: to die together.

"We need you."

Or suffer apart.

"I need you."

Her eyes narrowed, but she spoke levelly, pretending that the tears weren't still flowing down her sharp face. "All along I've been doing things on my own Yusei: running from my parents, punishing my enemies, withering away for the past, seeking death and destruction."

She paused, taking me in with sudden clarity I didn't expect in her current state, "I think you understand that."

Where her scalding words had kept my eyes bound to her, the soft ones sent them skidding away, coming to a halt on the last sliver of gold behind gray. "I do. That's why I came—I won't let you follow me down this road."

She must have sensed that I had not said all I wanted to, for she stayed silent, simply watching me, lifting her hand, her eyes cold. I sighed and admitted, "I want to save you."

"You can't save anyone."

Our hearts shuddered without the winds of speed, yearning for the other's companionship with the severity of a typhoon. But while it was what we wanted and perhaps even truly needed, the clouds remained above us, blocking out any hope of light, of truth, of salvation. I whispered her name and watched shivers run down her spine, her fist idle between her heart and my open palm.

"Can't you see Yusei?" she continued suddenly, regaining the brutal chill of her inner nature. Somehow, the approaching of stars had righted her, stopped the sorrow from seeping into her voice, heard all of her pain and tossed it towards the infinite realms of space. Hope was an idle light in my eyes. "He took me in and I trusted him. He loved me; he took care of me and accepted me no matter who or what I was. He protected me. And then you came, Yusei. YOU DESTROYED THAT!"

Her hand withdrew and she regarded me like I examined her, the tears on her cheeks dry and the wounds on our hearts in a steady tourniquet. We held each other with our eyes until the sea greedily swallowed the sun and absolute darkness fell, wondering whether or not the fact would make us lose them.

"Was it me that destroyed it?" I asked finally, gaining her full scrutiny, for better or worse. "Or was it you?"

The night arrived swiftly, stealing the incredulous expression from her face and the hard truth from mine.

"I didn't force you to chase me," I whispered, wondering when this overcast would disperse and we could finally see the moon and stars—the sun. "You did that yourself. You _needed_ to follow me. You want to come with me; you want to ride beside me."

I didn't need light to imagine the pained, crooked smile on her face, the image of the truth that she was always seeking out. "That's why you're really here tonight, because of that need."

That drew a laugh from her, stale and unused for many years. Empathy shuddered within me, as powerful as the winds whirling past our hair. "If that's true, then why are you here Yusei? What do you _need_?"

When I opened my mouth there were many things I could have said, all of which were true. I needed bonds, companionship, salvation, help, guidance, love, _light_, _life_, and above all, Forgiveness. But what came out of my mouth was not any of these truths, any of the answers that would spare me her rage and allow me a place by her side.

My answer was simple, "You."

"And if I stand against you, what will you do?" she snarled, and the shuffling of granite against her heeled shoes warned me of her approach. "Will you kill me too? Defeat me?"

"No."

I could feel her breath against my nose. "I don't believe you. You're wrong. I came here not to join you... I'm going to finish that cursed duel you started!"

And before I could tell her that she was wrong, that the Duel was not cursed or evil or deadly, that the game was a meeting and understanding of hearts and souls, that only those who wielded the duel were misguided, and rarely evil at all, that the Duel was all we had left to try and save each other, she did the one thing that I would never have anticipated her to do.

She kissed me.

Her arms snaked around my neck, pulling me closer to her soft, wet lips, forcing our bodies nearer than I had ever been to woman before. And while I stood neck-deep in the waters of confusion she buried her hands in my hair and slid her mouth against mine, harder, wilder, venting every little bit of unkempt feeling into my lips.

_What...?_

For my part, I knew I should have simply stood there and let her do this until she was done; cried dry and ready to talk. But with each passing moment I spent in her heat, each lash that brushed across my cheeks from her eyes, each scraping caress of her nails against my scalp, something boiled and brewed to the surface, hollering and yelling at me to act, to flee, screeching that this was wrong, that I didn't deserve this, that she shouldn't be touching me with the same lips that had screamed at me, that I didn't deserve to be... that I _couldn't_ be...!

Faces rose up within me, screaming, twisted, agonized in ways that I couldn't express but could _feel_ with every fiber of my being. They begged for me, burning and withering away in fire and light and death, the faces of my friends! Of those I loved the most!

_No... no...!_

They screamed for me with every turn and twist of her body against mine, cried out betrayal and pain and hate in their last moments, their very cores searing with agony shared through our marks, the burning of four crashing over me, melding with my own, welling up within my chest, boiling my blood until tears threatened to leak from my eyes...

_What is she doing to me?_

Somehow, I was suddenly crashing into my D-Wheel, my right arm outstretched, taking in deep, labored breaths. The sudden force flipped on my headlight, crafting a thick beam of artificial light, filtered by the hand on the lens. She stumbled backwards into it, her hair and face ablaze in the luminous white, alive and whole; cheerless. The smallest and saddest of smiles played down her features, and her eyes were unusually soft as she condemned me.

"I thought as much."

Shaking, I could look at her no longer, seeing only the marred and bloodied faces of my loves against hers. I retreated swiftly into the darkness less she see my face so vulnerable, less she know her forceful ways had affected me.

She knew anyway: that had been her goal.

The sounds of her heels clicking away did nothing to soothe me, nothing to freeze the jagged edges of the flames eating me from within, the fire that left me clutching onto the handles of my D-Wheel so tightly that I was sure one of us was going to break.

_This... this can't be... this... they couldn't think..._

Almost as if answering my unheard desperation, she whispered to me, "And why not?"

My breath caught against my roughened lips. I felt her eyes sweep me once more, taking in the trembling mess her presence had created, and heard her exhale what may have been a sigh of the deepest regret. I chanced looking into her eyes, and found nothing but despairing love wasted.

"I am going to kill you." Then, pausing and nodding as if acknowledging another, she finished, "Yusei."

She walked away, and the Night followed her.

Leaving me behind.

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**So did this experiment work out? Likes? Dislikes?**

**I really appreciate you guys telling me what you think happened, it's vital that I know how much I need to explain in the Epilogue, if anything.**

**If you review, I'd appreciate it if you told me:**

**1.** What you think is going on.

**2.** The unnamed character identities

**3.** Where I epically failed

**Thanks for reading,**

**~AxJfan**


	4. Justice

**NO POVs WILL BE STATED.**

**Last chapter updated! (not including the epilogue)**

**A special shout out to Tenka for saying just what I needed to hear in the reviews, and an apology for the fact that I withheld the truth in my replies! Thank you for proving to me that this experiment worked!**

~AxJfan

**Disclaimer: **I do not own 5ds, but I do own my twisted imagination and sick, ironic sense of humor. Isn't it grand?

**

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**Chapter Four:**

**Justice**

**Third Person POV**

The moon had long since past its peak and the stars were mercifully quiet, leaving little light to be spotted by. Even the waves were still, offering only the occasionally mist for spurts of cover. One of these phenomena coated his white cloak and metal half-mask, and if there were light to go by, it would have made it shimmer.

Opposite to him, miles away—on the floor of a disaster-struck Hell—was a burned body. Below him, his repaired D-Wheel purred in anticipation, ready to carry him towards his future once more, towards his cruel and violent destiny. Beside him were his two companions, who quickly melded away into safety, at ease with what would be carried out here tonight.

Each had a role to play inside these complex bonds, and each would play it perfectly.

Even so, the silence was deafening. When he had reached his limit and could take no more, he was granted a small mercy: the roar of an engine, the player that would start and end this chain of broken evolution. The one who had to live.

His challenger appeared in a blur of white and red, a blood promise deep set in her scowl. The final pawn to God's Will screeched to a halt before him, removing her helmet as if he didn't already know her identity. Long blonde hair crashed downwards, catching the weak starlight and setting it aglow, golden.

Although obviously beautiful, her features were twisted, distorted, wild and inhuman. The only hint of her true soul played darkly in her rich emerald eyes, and he knew then that this was the angel sent from above, His angel of Death.

And he was not afraid, he had died once already after all. "So you've finally come for me."

"You killed my parents." Neither was she.

The billowing cloak he wore flowed off his shoulders with an indifferent shrug, revealing his dark riding suit below. The wrinkles in her already upset face deepened, aghast at the sight of it, but she stayed mercifully silent, knowing to engage him in conversation would lead ultimately to her withdrawal. Although his features were a pit peculiar—from the mark under his left eye to his chaotic two-toned hair, everything but his eyes were human—within those lied only the hate of a monster, dark and insane.

Even so, he was cool and collected, nothing like Placido who acted too aggressively or Luciano who was simply a child. He may have been the last to fight, but he would be the first in all else. "I may as well have."

She was shaking again, her features red, although this time it was certainly in hate. "I should have killed you the last time we met."

Both their duel programs deployed, announcing the activation of Speed World 2 so loudly that it echoed across the sea, yet neither of them mad a move to put on their helmets. After all, they both understood the world of speed and will they were about to plummet into. They lived for it.

And would die for it.

"You should have," he agreed without malice or mockery. A well-practiced switch of his thumb threw his machine into manual pilot and he added thoughtfully, "Though it wouldn't have saved you."

"I don't need saving! Not by the likes of you, murderer!" she screamed, voice low and booming, words trembling with her hands. "Yliaster can't save anyone!"

"Yliaster will bring justice and salvation," he replied simply, staring hard into her frigid soul, seeing the glimmer of others faces transposed over it. This time, his gaze did not stray.

She coughed up a laugh, bitter as the reclusive night holding its breath around them. "Justice? Salvation? So my parents' death was to save the world? Tell me! Tell me—who has Yliaster ever saved? Who has been granted salvation by that great white hand?"

"I have."

She chocked, "You? Look at you! Do you honestly believe that Yliaster has saved you? Do you believe that by killing your heart they've given you justice?" Then she paused, sick realization dawning in her evening eyes, and she could only stare at him, wide-eyed at her own conclusion.

It was his turn to laugh now, a surprisingly low, harsh sound, as if scolding a particularly nasty child for an unspeakable act. In that same moment of epiphany that burned harsher than any envy of the sun, the devastated woman began their death match, tearing out into the fixed dueling highways. In vain she tried not to hear the ringing of his justice in her ears or the weight of that responsibility on her shoulders, but he of course had to follow behind, his cold voice paining her with every single word.

"If I don't have the power to save anyone Sherry LeBlanc, how could I possibly save myself?"

She spoke no answer for that, though she housed it deep within her deck and veins, bet it on the value of her father's card. She thanked the night and wind for hiding their tears, and wished solely that it could mask their intentions, spare them from Fate.

She drew her first card.

When it was all said and done, the war over with another body on the floor, a D-Wheel upturned, the first rays of dawn sparkling off the cracked glass of his rearview mirror, she collapsed at his side and took his outstretched hand in hers, held it in bitter prayer, wept into his dying, rich, haunting sapphire eyes.

From her torn and battered suit, a single card flutter to the gouged road, resting beside his spilled deck, beside its silver opponent, united in victory and death, as always, silent companions.

The memory of her fallen mask bit deep, and her very soul unraveled at the look in his eyes, the steady, unquestionable gaze that had allowed her this victory, that had let her deal justice through and to the organization that had killed her parents, that had let her carry out her revenge, and that had shown her just where that path ended.

She doubled over and sobbed, clutching his hand close to her chest, forcing her eyes to stay open past the blurred tears, forcing herself to reveal her own personal truth to his maimed, destroyed soul. "I NEVER WANTED TO BE YOUR ENEMY!"

He reached upwards and smiled, a painful, beautiful sight, reserved just for the likes of her, his angel sent from the God of Destiny, his last hope in a word gone dark. His rough, calloused, bloodied hand brushed away the grime from her brow, but left the tears, knowing them to be necessary, and granted her his last breath.

"You never were."

He died with the sun in his eyes, beside a wingless angel, whose tears rolled thick and heavy down her face, whose hands steadily held his.

"Yusei?"

She did not look away when the ground began to shake or her lost card began to glow.

"Yusei?"

When the sun rose gravely across the once bustling city of Neo Domino, she did not care or notice.

"YUSEI!"

But when the wind picked up, carrying her mind past its limits, opening her heart to a new world of understanding, she smiled. Shaking with mirth and irony, she stared down at the peaceful face of her fallen once comrade, soaked in the wounds of her monsters, bathed in the forgiving glow of the sun. "So this was for them after all... you stopped them by... _We_ stopped them..."

When his final light engulfed her, she was laughing, and from far above, under the sobbing eyes of the one who had cared and wished to remain from the start, the giant burning infinity symbol tore through the streets, obliterating what evolution had spared, wiping their story from the face of existence.

The bodies were gone.

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**Hehehehe...**

**If you review, I'd appreciate it if you told me:**

**1.** What you think is going on.

**2.** The unnamed character identities

**3.** Where I epically failed

**4.** How the chapters are connected

**Thanks for reading,**

**~AxJfan**


	5. Epilogue: ?

**The End?**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own 5ds, but I do own my twisted imagination and sick, ironic sense of humor. Isn't it grand?

**

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**

**Epilogue:**

**?**

**First Person POV**

She was relentless in her struggles, no matter what damage I managed to inflict to her with a smile or an attack, her pursuit stayed viciously pointed, wielding the effects of our world of speed to their most perfect, synching her monsters and spells with her own troubled heart. From the view of any other, it would have been terrifying to have her as an attacker; the set of her teeth elongating her canines like a beast, the melting glare of her smoldering emerald eyes, and the deep scowl marring her beauty would have frightened them into believing her a personal demon from Hell, come to commit unspeakable acts of vengeance and fury.

Yet as I stared down the last onslaught her monster towards me and left my trap card unused, I couldn't help but disagree. I saw the way her breath caught as the attack landed, slicing open my chest with an already crimson lance. I saw the way her lips formed my name in a silent scream as I grunted against the pain. I saw the way her extended arm reached back for me, desperate to spare me from this war.

I saw it all and I smiled.

People often forgot the true nature of angels. They were not creatures solely of love and light and guidance, that job was for something else entirely, a voice that I had been hearing often of late. No, they were beings of justice from love, bent and heaven-sent on their missions, unrelenting until the job was complete or they were smite from the world they called home. They would rather bathe in fire and sunlight than fail, they would give any life they had for their cause. And in this way Sherry LeBlanc was certainly the third He had spoken of, the Angel to the Guide and the Star.

**_Remember. Remember your mission._**

_I can never forget. I'm sending her home._

As my body flew through the air, doused in the pain of a self-inflicted wound, one that Kiryu wasn't here to try and stop me from committing, I opened my eyes wide to the heavens, trailing the flecks of blood as they flew across the wide-swipe of her Ace and vanished towards the horizon where...

_The sun... the sun...!_

After being detained in the eye of my own hurricane for so long, drowned from light and warmth, the sight was dazzling and wonderful, the greatest miracle that could ever be given to me. When I felt water on my cheeks, I was amazed that I even had tears left to shed, let alone for something like this, something that brought me joy instead of pain. It joined my blood in the airways and I crashed back down to the bridge that I had already died for once, hearing my name screech across the warzone.

Luciano and José were no doubt watching from their throne room, giddy that I had completed their Circuit with my death, uncaring and ignorant about my motives and reasons and why I had to be the one to fight against Sherry. They barely even grasped the concept of God's Will, misused it, spat on it, and twisted it in favor of themselves.

Sherry would take care of them.

From an unfathomable distance, the shriek of breaking glass came alive, scattering across the concrete with the rings and chimes of church bells, bringing me comfort and serenity, even though I still was unsure if I truly believed. Light scattered across my face like a thousand glittering stars, coating me in the world of speed that I had just died for. Warmth spread across my chest with my blood, staining the riding suit of my team with the color that had claimed us long ago, and in a way, defined us.

A trembling hand rested across the surface, and withdrew crimson. I stared at it without interest, forcing my head to the side, past the sluggish haze that was slowly eating away at my sight. The bridge wavered under her feet as she approached, the glass became a whole shimmering mirror, and Stardust Dragon shone like a beacon in the midst of madness. I jumped when a dark card fluttered past it as Sherry fell to her knees beside me, then sighed as Z-Zone found its way to our side.

**_Remember._**

She took my hand in hers, staining her white gloves that deep red, spreading it from her cheeks to her chest to her very soul, the only trembling in the soft pink lips that she had ravished me with days earlier. Understanding flashed through us at her touch, and something came to life in her eyes, something deep within her unraveled under the gaze of my blue eyes.

Her hands jerked back and forth sporadically now, fighting the urge to burst out into sobs to accompany her sparkling tears, and her hair shone gold in the forgiving light of the sun. I wondered if she understood yet, if she knew what I needed her to, if she understood me as truly as she had claimed to.

_"Do you think I wouldn't know my teammates Yusei?"_

Could she see how similar we are? Could she see that our roles could easily be reversed—that she could be laying at my knees while I held her steady hands in my trembling ones—that she could have heard His voice in the wind and traveled towards a future bent on destruction? Could she see that this duel had saved her? Had saved me?

**_Remember._**

It was more than a coincidence that our fathers created and controlled Momentum, were both killed for trying to stop its destructive use. It was more than luck that cursed us with the same burden to bear. It was just simply_ more_ that we had found each other, despite the fact that we were separated by countries, languages, cultures, and belief. To have bonds this strong with someone, to be _fated_ to meet them, to kill or be killed by them...

Did she know why I let her do this? Did she know why I _had_ to do this?

I jerked towards her as she doubled over, sobs flowing off her shoulders as Yliaster's false white cloak had done mine, and in similar ways that were entirely her own, she bared her unweaving soul to mine. "I NEVER WANTED TO BE YOUR ENEMY!"

My hand left stains up and down her shirt with each chocking gasp she spluttered and scars in her eyes. Even so, the new wounds only caught more light past her tears, only shone brighter through the pain and misery that we had dealt each other, only gave me something that I had not held onto for too long, something that I was supposed to give others.

Looking up at her was never simply enough, and I lifted my hand past the tears that she needed to shed like I had to Rudger. Hers followed closely, unwilling to release me, wishing with all her heart that I would stay with her, that I would join her team, that I would heal her and myself and everything could go back to as it was before. And I simply smiled instead, offering her the only thing I had, all the hope and love I still held for her, for the future, for the friends that I had killed, for the world that she had to save without me.

With my thumb I wiped the dirt from her brow and traced a simple unconnected circle with my blood, blessing her as was my right as the Head Mark Signer, and imparted her with the last thing she needed to hear from me before her visit with the God of Destiny at the end of the Circuit, before she received the information she needed to stop Yliaster, before she chased after Bruno's evolutionary Synchro, before she fought in the sunlight with my name seared in her soul, "You never were."

The effect was immediate on both of us. Her tears halted and she stared at me, gripping my hand as if she could personally tether me to Earth when death lulled me away, she stared and put together the pieces as effectively as I could, she stared and stared and stared me to sleep. The light swamping me intensified, and I saw the sun expand, slowly leaking my vision into a tunnel with Sherry at the center, frozen between love and justice, between revenge and salvation.

It ate at her hair, setting her in brilliant frames, lending her the wings the God of Destiny had spoken of, and just before it claimed me, taking me to the final room where He would finally damn my soul to rest, she understood, and she called my name.

"Yusei?"

It became too much, and my eyes fell shut against the glare, but even then it shone through, promising to never leave me in the chaos of night and storms again.

"Yusei?"

The feeling of being uplifted seized me, burning sharply against the comfort of her hands clutching mine.

_ "YUSEI!"_

I tasted the sun on my lips, the sun or her, and found that the hands carrying me were marked in crimson as well.

Although I wanted to pull away, to push and shove and flail until they released me as I had with Sherry, to stop the agony and love and hate that came with his touch, I lacked the energy to move, to speak, to see, to do anything but lay before him and be forgiven without the strength to forgive myself.

"Yusei," someone spoke, the voice that I couldn't hear—didn't deserve to hear—the voice that I had truly killed with my own two hands instead of some sick twist in the curse I was born to whether...

"Yusei, I've been watching. I know why you did this, and I understand."

His hands touched my brow and although I couldn't see his face, I knew the voice, knew I was unworthy of him most of all, that by taking his life instead of my own that first night I had started down this path, that I had left his two kids alone in the city, that they were now without a father and a brother...

"Don't blame yourself. Nico and West found their way back. They have people to care for them there."

_Kiryu... Kiryu..._

What could I say? That I was sorry? That I didn't deserve this forgiveness? That I really did care below the hate that had consumed me that night? That I hadn't ever wanted to hurt him?

I was slung over his back once more, he was carrying me from this place like I had carried him from the Dyne Mines, carrying me even though I refused it... just like he had then... "They really thought you were like Placido, Yusei. For a while, I was worried too. But you pulled through with that woman. She'll stop them—that's all she would ever think to do."

So was this the end? A death in perpetual light, tormented by the soft forgiveness of a voice that cut me swifter than any blade?

"Yusei—there's just one thing that I don't understand," he added as he took another step forward, suddenly dousing us in warmth and sunlight. The strength returned to my legs and he let me down to the ground, where I stumbled away, instantly doused in cool, weak helplessness.

"What caused all this?"

I looked up then, forcing myself as Sherry had, and saw the white room where 'God' had been, the room where He had gifted me my Accel Synchro Monster, saw Kiryu standing with one foot immersed in a large disk of light much like those Yliaster created to get into the throne room, _smiling_ at me. He shifted to the side and I saw them all, crammed into the small portal, staring at me like I had done nothing wrong, that I had not spat on our bonds, that I had not betrayed them in the worst possible way I could.

All my wonderful friends... bound to me by more than simply crimson marks now...

With unison that could only be miraculous, all their hands extended towards me, palms up and open, beckoning me forward like I had done to Sherry that night on the bridge, as I had done to them in life, as...

**_Remember._**

I chocked on gratefulness as it swelled in my throat and released the stinging tears from my eyes, allowed my shoulders to tremble and my mask to drop before them, allowed them to take me in and understand me. It rinsed through me as I released it, tossed up all my personal demons into the hurricane I lived in, threw it outwards and into them, where they caught it and tamed it.

_"Placido wasn't lying!"_

My knees buckled and I fell hard to the flow, bowing my head before them, pleading condemnation instead of mercy, festering and rotting and broken in my own misery, in the wake of my own actions in spite of warnings against them.

The purple light that had slid over me, the charring heat that rattled me as Placido spoke of my father, the relief of the world of speed, the black pit in which I had been hurled into, the stars that had embraced me as the city was destroyed, the body of Dark Glass, helm smashed to bits to reveal Bruno, Kiryu racing towards me, the metal in my hand, the hospital destroyed, the Wheel of Fortune upturned, the stadium shattered, the streets burning, Yliaster's appearance, Sherry's arrival, Mizoguchi's sacrifice...

The will Sherry must now bear alone, the family Kiryu lost, the love in their eyes...

_"How do I tell you I'm sorry?"_

Kiryu crouched down before me, balancing on the heels of his feet, and extended his hand. His eyes shone with the same gold that framed Sherry's face, the blistering heat that was impossible to escape or ignore. He held out his hand once more, smiling softer than he had when I took his hand before, and said, "You take my hand."

I stared at it, the lifeline I had cut short, the porcelain skin that had already died once. Then my eyes shifted up to meet his, then back to meet theirs, and found they were all smiling, all waiting for me to join them, all waiting for me to shed my mask and find where it was that I belonged. They were all waiting for me to get off the path I had sped down alone and find theirs, find the one that Sherry was walking on now.

"I don't deserve you," I whispered. Crow shook his head in exasperation, Aki rolled her eyes, Jack snorted, Rua grinned, Ruca frowned, and Bruno's eyes softened. Kiryu chuckled lowly, offering instead, "I think we're even now, Yusei."

And I took his hand.

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**Third Person POV**

When the light that had stolen all bodies from the ground whispered out into the sky, it left a single human untouched. Sprawled spread-eagle in a pool of another's blood on the Daedalus Bridge, her golden hair crafting a halo above her head, a card in each hand, one shining silver with evolution, one dark with control, one body was left behind to stir on her own.

Beside her was a machine spilled out on the floor, damaged but unharmed, around her was the shards of a completed mirror, which cast her body into the eerie light of salvation. When she woke, she would remember a world of chaos and destruction, an upturned mountain floating in a crimson sky, a vow to prevent Yliaster from reaching that place, and a gift of forgiveness from parents she had to let go.

But for now, she lay undisturbed on the ground as the sun burned towards noon, and perhaps it was for the better. Perhaps there are limits for a reason. Salvation is cruel at best. Needs are discarded. Justice is served.

But it all ends in questions answered: the end of truth, what she had sought all along, and the one question that had been posed to her at the edge of infinity, by a being that was certainly not God, but a man of destiny, a man that she could never forget.

**_ Perhaps salvation needs justice?_**

She may not know the answer to that now, but she was willing to seek it out, to test it against the organization that had ruined so many lives, to fight for herself and the others that lived outside the destroyed ruins of Neo Domino, to save by serving justice.

**_Remember._**

It would start as it had begun.

With a body on the floor.

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**Thanks for reading,**

**~AxJfan**


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